Trauma Recovery & Injury Prevention (TRIP)

The Division of Trauma Recovery & Injury Prevention (TRIP) provides psychosocial and mental health services to trauma & burn patients and family members: assessments (for PTSD symptoms, depression, safety, etc.), interventions (psychological first aid, trauma-informed counseling, bereavement and end-of life support etc.), referrals (inpatient ancillary staff, community-based violence intervention, outpatient counseling), outpatient follow-up (I.e. bereavement calls).

The Division is staffed by masters-level social workers, Community Resource Navigators, and interns to provide care in both the inpatient and community-based settings. The TRIP Division houses a Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (formerly called Healing Hurt People-Chicago, HHP-C). The TRIP team works to incorporate trauma-informed and palliative care best practices into the Department of Trauma, offers emotional support to staff members, and provides leadership to the Cook County Health Trauma-Informed Care Collaborative.

Vision & Values

We envision a world with pathways to healing, trauma-informed healthcare and social systems, and repair to issues in communities that lead to violence. When our vision is realized, we will be closer to living in a city free of gun violence.

How We Help

We help people who are violently injured when they enter the hospital and out in the community to help individuals, families, and loved ones recover from trauma, navigate the medical journey, and facilitate the necessary steps to successfully re-enter the community.

Social worker Andrew Wheeler meets with trauma patients at Stroger Hospital. (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune)

We Meet People Where They Are

TRIP begins at the hospital bedside. Hospitals are scary places, and patients often have intense emotional and practical needs. They are in pain and have to manage conversations with doctors, family and friends, all while worrying about the future.

The time immediately following a violent injury can also be dangerous, a time when people are more likely to commit further violence out of retribution or stress. This can create a cycle of trauma, stress, and violence.

But the time following a violent injury can also be a golden hour – an opportunity to break the cycle of violence, re-examine priorities, and get the necessary support for positive growth. We want to make this opportunity possible, no matter where someone is in their life’s journey.

Our clinicians provide a range of assistance in the hospital, including:

Team Support

We provide crisis intervention, psychological first aid, safety planning, psychoeducation and psychotherapy.

Patient Advocacy

We help patients understand and make decisions with medical providers.

Connect to Services

We facilitate access to crime victims compensation program, legal aid, violence intervention services, housing organizations, and acquiring basic needs.

We Engage Beyond the Hospital

Going home after a traumatic injury can be difficult. Sometimes we forget that our minds impact our bodies, but trauma goes beyond the wounds we can see. Coping with trauma is about healing from both the emotional and physical experiences of being harmed.

The majority of people with violent injuries have already experienced other traumatic events. When someone has experienced a series of traumatic events over time, it is called complex trauma. This can make life difficult even when the physical wounds have healed, and our team of clinicians specializes in this kind of trauma.

To support our participants after they’ve left the hospital, our team members:

Build Partnerships

We build partnerships with participants to understand basic needs and how they can be met.

Space of Stability

We act as an anchor or space of stability as participants consider their own lives, rather than telling participants what they should be doing.

Interpersonal Skill Building

We help participants build and rebuild relationships with people like teachers, family members, and employers through joint meetings and practicing effective communication.

Therapeutic Options

Our staff is trained to provide therapeutic options in unconventional ways, not just one-on-one in an office, but in participant’s everyday lives.

Necessary Services

We accompany participants as they access necessary services, modeling how to navigate complex systems.

Facilitate Groups

Our staff and peer leaders facilitate support groups using the SELF model.

We Advocate within Larger Systems

Our participants navigate complicated, and often violent, systems. On a daily basis, our team confronts practices and policies that are harmful, and advocates side-by-side with participants to have their needs met. We are proud members of the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI) and collaborate with multiple community violence intervention programs around Chicago

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